Arabs set ball rolling for missions to Mars

The first Arab space mission to Mars, an unmanned probe named Hope, left Japan yesterday.

The Japanese rocket carrying the probe developed by the UAE went from Tanegashima Space Center on schedule at 6.58am, and an hour later the probe detached.

The launch had twice been delayed by bad weather.

In Dubai, the launch caused much excitement, with the Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest skyscraper - illuminated for the liftoff.

The Emirati project is one of three racing to Mars, a journey taking about seven months. The others are Tianwen-1 from China and Mars 2020 from the United States.

They are taking advantage of a period when Earth and Mars are closest. In October, Mars will be a comparatively close 62 million kilometers to Earth.

Unlike the Chinese and US ventures, Hope will not land on Mars but orbit it for a Martian year - 687 days - for weather checks.